Air and Water
by chaniacsuon
Summary: Black, giant, enormous, feathery wings were what Leila received as a present on her thirteenth birthday. Her father just simply said that she was growing up, and that she was inheriting her powers from her mother – who was a Xelara, which was basically a form of alien race that consisted of Xelaraians who had wings just like her, along with new powers which makes things complicated
1. Independence Day, Part I

Summary: Black, giant, enormous, feathery wings were what Leila received as a present on her thirteenth birthday. Her father just simply said that she was growing up, and that she was inheriting her powers from her mother – who was a Xelara, which was basically a form of alien race that consisted of Xelaraians who had wings just like her, along with new powers that her dad had said would come in soon. So, when she's suddenly asked to become Hawkwoman's protégé and join a team of superheroes, things get a little complicated.

 _I gasped, grinding my teeth as a alternative instead of screaming in pain as it began again – the change. I didn't necessarily know what it was but Dad did say something about me growing up and how it had something to do with my mother – my deceased mother – who we barely talked about. This change started happening when I was thirteen, when I happened to be walking around the small apartment I shared with my dad, looking for food, when I suddenly felt a piercing pain hit me in the middle of my shoulder blades._

 _It felt like someone was drilling a hole inside of your skin, although not just as fast but much slower and painful. If someone was drilling a hole into your body, the process would be much faster, and during that time period, usually, people would just want their time done, swift and quick. Although, I haven't always been that lucky, however._

 _Two years have passed since then, and the mysterious piercing pain between my shoulder blades had never dulled, or gone away, in the least. Like the people on the television that they called superheroes, I possessed and gained powers similar to them, and Dad always stuck himself in my room, patiently waiting, for the both of us, as the piercing pain went away, as he rocked me back and forth, calming my cries of pain, like he did, when I was much younger._

 _Speaking of dad, he always came on cue, when it started, and speaking of the devil, the door suddenly burst open and Dad stood at the door, rushing in, only to see me arching my entire body in pain as I whimpered at the feeling, the searing and white-bearing pain as it trailed down my back, and I could see Dad's face – usually full of mirth and laughter and laugh lines – softening into a somber one, as he cooed. "Oh, sweetheart," He sighed, running up to my bed and dropping his knees to the floor, as he ran his hands – that were glowing with a searing white – over where the pain was happening._

 _Dad had the power to heal, and he always managed to heal all of my injuries, especially at a time like this. He tutted softly, the sound calming my tenseness a little bit, and I sighed, relieved, as I felt the piercing pain start to dull away, and starting to fade. "It's hurts," I groaned and Dad rubbed his hand in small, slow circles on my back, humming softly. "It's over, baby." He cooed and comforted me as he sighed, bringing himself to sit on my bed, crooning softly._

 _"_ _It's going to come back," I murmured as I curled my body to a ball, my legs tucking under my chin. Dad stayed silent as his crooning suddenly stopped, and I lifted my stiff neck to look over at my father, and watched as his eyes suddenly widen in wide saucers, and looked questioningly at him. "Leila." He breathed as he pointed over to my back, and I turned my blue eyes over to where he was pointing, and with a start, I realized there were two set of wings slowly growing into my back._

 _Black and ebony, and giant, and feathery, wings suddenly started enlarging into my back and they stopped enlarging as I sat up from the bed, and stopped growing when the ends of the wings grazed the ground softly. "Dad," I turned and I noticed his eyes straying on my newly-grown wings and he exhaled. "You're grown up now, Leila." He sighed, and I stared at the mirror, gazing at my newly-grown wings._

That was six months ago. Through the shock, Dad had explained to me that things would get rocky from on there. I didn't really understand why he looked so depressed right there but, I figured it must be because I was reminding him of Mom. I couldn't blame him, I missed her too. My mom was a Xelaraian, and, according to Dad, she did not make it through child birth, and passed away on the hospital bed.

Dad was a metahuman, a human who gained powers through a traumatic event in their life. Some of his abilities included healing and telepathy, but other than that, I didn't know what else he could do. He never really indulged into what he could fully do, maybe because he didn't feel comfortable about talking about himself, or he just didn't want me to know.

Through the matter of months, I had gotten used and accustomed to my new wings and new powers. Turns out I didn't have to do much with my wings, although, they did have a mind of their own. They allowed me to fly, glide, jump smoothly and all I had to do was trust them, which was the easiest part. Although, they were something new to get used to, I was quickly growing fond of them rather quickly. My powers, on the other hand, it was different. I could move things with my mind, project my own soul out of my own conscious body, which had an definite advantage, and I could form hot energy from my hands and construct it into anything I wanted. I had inherited my dad's healing and telepathy.

Dad had said that my powers could develop even more and they were still maturing and it could be completely at random, so he told me to give it time and to keep a look out. Dad watched me, curious as he observed the way I would grow used to my powers, and how I would seemingly react when it came to this matter. I could tell that he wished Mom was here because we both knew that she would have been able to know what to say in this situation. Dad had always been the jokester, always there as a comic relief to make me laugh and to keep any boys interested in me, to stay away and always took me to baseball games.

 _Dad worked as the head scientist in a treatment facility called WICKED, which was a facility that treated unwell patients, experimenting with unknown chemicals to create a new medicine and treatment plan for those who were unwell. Today, he had been called into the facility, and the only thing he managed to tell me before he left was that he'd be gone for a long while and that he left the leftover Chinese takeout in the fridge, allowing me to heat it up and eat for the rest of the day._

 _I didn't mind. Dad was always rushing to go to work, and he always made sure I had something to eat during the days that he would be gone or stay late nights at the facility. Besides, today was a Saturday, and I didn't really plan on doing anything for that matter. Probably eat some junk food, watch television, and scroll through Tumblr for anything interesting as I wandered around the small apartment, acting like a coach potato._

 _I didn't realize what that Saturday would offer me. In the afternoon, I heard a distinct knock on the door, and with wary suspicions, I peeked in through the peekhole. Dad had always told me to never answer the door, because we were the kind of family that did not appreciate visitors. Mormons always came by, asking to convert us and all, and Dad didn't like the company._

 _Instead, when I glanced at the peekhole, I didn't see the usual Mormons fully prepared to convert my belief, it was something I would have never expect. I opened the door wide and gaped openly at the woman standing outside my door. Hawkwoman, a tall, frightening, imposing, fierce, and the absolute toughest member of the Justice League stood outside of my dingy door._

 _"_ _Woah." I blinked and then promptly pinched myself to see if I was dreaming again, and when I felt pain, I knew that this was happening for real. Hawkwoman looked just as intimidating as Hawkman, just with less armor, and she remained stone-faced as she addressed me by my name. "Leila Walker?" I tensed up, not knowing what was going to happen, as I clutched the doorknob encased in my left hand tighter as I braced myself for what was coming up next. "Yes?" My voice came out trembling than I thought it was going to be._

 _Hawkwoman didn't seem to notice. "It's about your father, Daniel." She paused and I could feel my panic rise, my throat suddenly becoming dry as I swallowed the lump in my throat. "There was an explosion at Wicked Inc. and your father were not seen."I let my eyes fall to the ground, my frame shaking slightly at the shock. "But authorities have concluded that your father must have made it through the fire."_

 _Hawkwoman opened the pouch inside of her belt and pulled out two things; a small gift box and a crumpled piece of paper. "While we investigated the scene, we found this in your father's office. They both had your name on it." She offered them to me. Turning it over, I realized she was right, and I recognized Dad's lazy scrawl on the paper, Dad always tended to press hard whenever he writes, like Braille, as I ran my hands through the small calligraphy._

 _I could feel Hawkwoman's eyes on me, and I met her gaze with my own. She coughed to get my attention, "The League will also have to ask you for your time to answer a couple of questions," I knew what that meant. They were suspicious of Dad and I guess they had good reason to be because he was the lead Board at Wicked and to find that he suddenly escaped with no trace was enough to raise a few red flags._

 _I nodded to show my understanding, waiting for her to leave and when I didn't hear footsteps fading away, I looked up to her again questioningly. "Now would be a good time," She stiffly commented, and I turned to her, blinking in surprise. "Now?" I echoed and she nodded her confirmation, and I didn't have time to protest as she literally pulled me by my arm and out of the small apartment._

The small paper turned out to be a letter from Dad, who alerted me of his situation. An explosion did happen in Wicked but, not at his area of expertise. He was safe but, he had to leave before the authorities could come investigating because they would search through his research and some of it was actually semi-illegal and when they did research it, which took a long time. However, he would come back, because there were some things that needed the League's eye to be fixated on, including illegal cloning and experiments. He would be home soon, he promised, and told me to look after myself for the time being.

The gift box turned out to be a small pet, a small dog the shade of turquoise, with brown eyes that could will you to do anything she wanted. I had called her Lady due to her feminine posture whenever she sat down. Dad told me in his letter that Lady was a puppy that was intertwined with the DNA of a German Shepherd and a Xelaraian and she would be fully capable to protect me while he was away.

Lady was friendly and energetic. Whenever I came home, she would always greet me excitedly and jump up so her paws would be lying on my stomach, barking happily. Lucky for me, Dad had a storage of dog food that he fed to the neighbor dogs whenever he had free time and I had used that food to feed Lady for the time being. Since she was Xelaraian, she would probably like the water just like Mom and I enjoyed it just as much.

Anyway, through the course of the week when Hawkwoman had dragged me out of the apartment, she had immediately taken me to the Hall of Justice, where I had been asked – no, interrogated was the more describable term – by several League members. I did my best to protect my father, even though I barely understood what exactly he was doing at the moment, and I did my best to not crack under the pressure.

I guess maybe I was a bit too strong in my insistence that my father was a good man and he wasn't involved in any crime cases, especially the rumors about Wicked being that it was secretly an underground factory generating weapons of mass destruction and creating clones to create an army all of their own. The evidence that maybe I was feeling rather too strongly was when I suddenly saw the love seats encased in my own silver energy and my eyes glowing the same exact color.

 _"_ _Do that again." Batman, the caped crusader demanded as he gestured towards the love seats, and I obeyed, turning to the love seats, flicking my wrist over slightly and the seats hovered over some nonexistent space. "How are you able to do that? Are you a Martian?" I raised my eyes to Green Arrow, and lowered my eyes to the ground, shaking my head. I guess my cover was blown already, seeing I had already somewhat exposed myself._

 _Hawkwoman sauntered over to the table where I was seating, and leaned forward with an arm on the table, with an intrigued expression on her usually stone-faced expression. "What else are you able to do?" Her voice was calm and authoritative, a commanding presence as she leveled me with her own green eyes._

 _I stared at her for a good minute before I stood up and closed my eyes for a brief minute before my soul-self emerged from my own physical body. A silver silhouette of my own body traveled around the room and then returned back to my physical body. I opened my eyes, aware of Hawkwoman's eyes glaring right down at me, and clenched my right fist, and then focused. A bright light of silver energy encased itself into my hands, forming into a small ball of silver energy, similar to a bolt, and then morphing it into a small hammer similar to Hawkwoman's mallet._

 _The silver energy disappeared from my hands, and I took off my black sweatshirt and tossed it onto the chair, the member of the League's faces did not falter from their usual mask of indifference, and I released a sigh I didn't realize I was holding in as I unsheathed my ebony, dark wings. Hawkwoman's eyes widened at the sight of my large wings before she nodded in understanding, "Is that all?" One of the wings on my back lifted up to catch the air. "I'm a telepath." I stated and blurted the last thing I needed to say. "And I can heal people."_

 _Hawkwoman shared a look between Batman and he nodded, narrowing his eyes. "Interesting." She simply said. "How long have you had these powers?" I dropped my eyes to the ground at the sound of Batman interrogating. "Six months. But, my wings came in on my thirteenth birthday." I bit my lip and I could feel the slight curiosity and tension in the room and I wished that I could just disappear now in the world._

Two days later, Batman and Hawkwoman both arrived at the apartment I shared with my father. After a bunch of narrowed eyes and a match of death glares, Batman offered me a proposition. I was their ally to know anything about Wicked, whom they were completely clueless as to what it was. While I gave him information, I could be offered a spot on a covert team consisting of the most famous superheroes sidekicks as Hawkwoman's protégé.

Well, I think it was obvious what I said. Yes, of course. Hawkwoman didn't smile then. She merely told me that it was going to be hard and she would give me no mercy, and that training would have to be brutal. I could see the challenge rising in her eyes, daring me to retaliate, and make a big scene about being a worthy partner to be involved with.

But I wasn't stupid. I knew better than to challenge one of the fiercest and toughest fighters in the Justice League. She had a goddamn _mallet,_ for Christ's sake. I told her that I was ready but, I didn't think my point got through to her, considering the skeptical glint in her green eyes.

From then on, I underwent training with Hawkwoman. It was brutal, and tough, and intimidating, and she was commanding, and criticized every mistake I made as I fought against her. Aerial combat was important, too. She emphasized all of the things I needed to know and what could be considered useful as I flew through the air. She taught me how to spin to ward off any attackers hanging onto me and that I should always have a weapon handy if I ever have the need to have one.

Dad barely passed my mind, and for that, I was glad. I didn't need to think of dad and think of where he was, spending my nights worrying my ass off. I was glad that Hawkwoman was busting my ass and making me burn calories, even though I knew she could wipe the floor with me any day. I was already busy, with school, training with Hawkwoman, and buying takeout just to eat. I couldn't imagine my life turning around when I joined a team.

The past months flew by faster than I realized, and it turned out to be five months that I had been studying under Hawkwoman. During that time, I've met Hawkman, turns out they were married, go figure. So I happened to see him more often than I thought I would. As I trained with Hawkwoman, things have definitely changed. I was definitely impressive on the field than before, able to respond with attacks quicker and faster, send back counterattacks of my own, and I received a hammer just like Hawkwoman from Hawkman, which didn't weigh that much, thanks to Hawkman's insistence that I pick up weight training.

Hawkwoman was a hard instructor, she was a hard ass, I admit that, but even though, sometimes, I felt like she was trying to kill me during practice, I knew she was helping me in a good way. Lady was good, too. She had grown, although, not that much. I'm guessing it's because she was half Xelaraian and that slowed the aging process, reminding myself when Dad told me about Mom looking the same twenty-two year old woman he met, even when she was giving birth to me.

Hawkwoman and I fought crime, especially on missions together. It was exciting, and I had grown used to it somehow. She informed me on the following Monday, I would see the Hall of Justice and meet the sidekicks. It was great, I couldn't wait to see people my age fighting crime. Hawkwoman was great company – believe me – I loved it when she corrected my form and criticized my roundhouses when we went on patrols together – but a girl can get tired and want younger company. By the time Monday had rolled around, I was excited, and rolling on the balls of my feet.

"Are you serious?" I groaned as Hawkwoman threw me a look, both of us suddenly airborne as we glanced down at Sr. Frost causing havoc and stealing electronics at a nearby pawn shop. The guy was way too old to enter the scene, if you asked me, he was probably seventy years old, and you could tell he was in no shape on joining the fight.

Right now, we were in the city, and obviously in the middle of a heroic mission, also known as kicking ass. I was irritated and annoyed because Hawkwoman seemed to decide that today we would have to check every corner of the city to see if crime was happening at the very moment. I understood what she was doing but, I had a feeling she was just doing it to tease me about today.

I stayed back as Hawkwoman whisked by him, swooping in and throwing her mallet back and swinging hard, which left Sr. Frost disoriented. Taking advantage, I swooped in, doing the exact same thing as my mentor, and clocked him in the jaw as hard as I could, and then did a roundhouse. Ignoring the moaning villain at my feet, I turned to my partner, eyes impatient and wide. "Can we go _now?_ Today's the day." Hawkwoman slowly grinned at me as she handcuffed the villain before shoving him in the direction of the authorities.

I passed by Hawkwoman as we flew over to the Hall of Justice, and I could clearly see the tall building, and a small smile formed on my features, and I could hardly contain my excitement but struggled to maintain my straight face, and I whipped my head up when I heard Hawkwoman chuckle beside me.

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever." I sped up and directed my wings to lose flight as I flew down to the ground, my wings flapping loudly as I descended on the ground, and I could hear Hawkwoman reaching ground right beside me. There were the group of protégés and their mentors that stood in front of me as Hawkwoman caught up to me, "Calm yourself, child." She shook her head at me and I shrugged openly at her. Not my fault that she was getting older.

"Shaden!" I turned to the voice and realized that it must have been Wally West AKA Kid Flash, who I often dubbed Thing #1. He was a year younger than me and was the jokester usually, and he fit the part, actually, with his bright red hair and green eyes, especially with his Kid Flash uniform, bright colors consisting of red and yellow.

"I guess I'm not the last one." He smirked at me and I raised a brow at him in surprise, "Whatever you say, Spuds." I enjoyed the way his face suddenly burned the same shade as his hair. Robin cackled behind his hand and he raised his hand to offer me a high five high in the air, and I tried to fight back a smile when I realized he hadn't grown that much since I saw him last. He was still a foot shorter than me. I high-fived him anyway, his glove and my fingerless ones making a slight slap in the air, and I turned to the other redhead who was scowling at me and the calm Atlantean.

"Shaden." Kaldur nodded at me politely and I offered a small smile back at him. "Aqualad." I greeted and raised a brow at the scowling archer, who looked completely ridiculous in his uniform. "Speedy." He glared at me and I muttered, "Nice to see you too." under my breath as he walked over to the entrance, along with the others.

I had chose to give myself a codename; Shaden. I liked it and Hawkwoman didn't have a problem with it. I had met Speedy, Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash by stumbling into them with their own respective mentors, and they were all friendly and nice, including Speedy, but that was in his own kind of way.

As we all walked closer, I caught sight of the original League members and whistled lowly at the sight, already impressed, and I could hear to what Robin was commenting to Wally. "You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed. Why isn't anyone just whelmed?" He turned and saw the statues, and he smartly said, "Oh. Maybe that's why." It was impressive, and I could see my own mentor in her familiar combat stance.

The door hissed open and out came Martian Manhunter, and he stepped forward towards us. "Robin, Speedy, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Shaden, welcome." He said, and then he turned back and I watched Robin and Wally exchange fist bumps and I grinned as we walked towards the elevator.

"You now have unlimited access to the gym, our fully stocked gallery, and of course our library." He continued. I looked around. We entered the Hall of Justice. There were a bunch of shelves filled with texts and books that I wanted to reach out to grab and suddenly read but, I forced myself to keep my arms by my sides. There was a large screen and a computer where there was a seat when one needed it. There were a couple of chairs and there was a door that read LEAGUE MEMBERS ONLY.

Flash, with his arms spread open, added. "Make yourselves at home." I barely had time to sit, especially when Robin and Wally dropped themselves onto the seats, and I narrowed my eyes at them as Wally poked his tongue out at me. Instead, I opted to look at the heavy tombs on the shelf as the Leaguers talked in conversation and Speedy to narrow his eyes at them.

"Quick debrief to discuss the coincidence of four ice villains attacking on the same day." I heard Batman say, and then he stared at us five, and said. "We shouldn't be long." He turned and I could hear a whirring and I looked up to see a small ball appearing from the ceiling so the computer could recognize them. " _Recognized Batman 02, Aquaman 06, Flash 04, Green Arrow 08, Martian Manhunter 07, Red Tornado 16, Hawkwoman 17."_ The computer said as it scanned over each superhero, and then opened the LEAGUE MEMBERS ONLY door for them to enter.

"That's it? You promised us a look inside, not a glorified backstage pass." Speedy looked furious and I could understand why. The Leaguers looked back at him in surprise. "It's a first step. You've been granted access few others get." Aquaman answered him and I raised a brow, looking up to see the glass window full of reporters and civilians taking pictures down at us.

"Oh really?" Speedy retorted as he gestured with his arm, waving at the glass window which showed the exact same one I was looking at. "Who cares which side of the glass we're on?" I bit my lip and watched as Speedy angrily conversed with the Leaguers. "Roy, you need to be patient." Green Arrow attempted to calm his furious protégé but Roy was having none of that as he walked towards him. "What I need is respect," He spat at his partner and then he turned to the rest of us, his expression conveying exactly what I was feeling.

"They're treating us like kids. Worse, like _sidekicks."_ He said the word so venomously like it was acid just saying it as it rolled out on his tongue. "We deserve better than this," Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash looked at each other before glancing at me and I stared back, blinking before they looked at Roy again. "You're kidding, right? You're playing their game? Why? Today was supposed to be _the_ day." Roy swipes his hand through the air in his frustration, adding emphasis on the word 'the'. "Step one in becoming full-fledged members of the League." His words were clear; he was having none of this and he would not stand for it anymore.

"Well, sure, but I thought step one was a tour of the HQ." Wally glanced around at the rest of us. "But, the Hall of Justice isn't their HQ." Roy retorted back. Shocked faces went all around, including mine and the Leaguers' faces tightened and narrowed. Hawkwoman had never told me that. Never told me anything. "I bet they never told you it's just a false front for tourists and a pit stop for catching zeta beams teleporter tubes to the real thing, an orbing satellite called the Watchtower." I watched Green Arrow glance at Aquaman in worry and my mouth fell open in shock.

Green Arrow turned to face Batman, and the caped crusader simply crossed his arms across his chest. "I know," He said, "But I thought we could make an exception." He shrugged his shoulders and Batman only narrowed his eyes even more and Green Arrow's face fell, "Or not." He added.

"You're not helping your cause here, son." Aquaman said, stepping up to Roy, who turned at the merman. "Stand down or-" Roy challenged, leaning towards him in a daring matter. "Or what? You'll send me to my room? And I'm not your son! I'm not even his! I thought I was his partner. But, not anymore." Roy took his hat and threw it down on the floor and my eyes widened at the action, and it seems I wasn't the only one.

"Guess they're right about you four." Roy turned away and started walking towards the door, "You're not ready." His words hurt as Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash stood up to watch him go. Once the door closed on him, an alarm suddenly blared throughout the room and everybody turned to see Superman on the screen, with a somber expression. "Superman to Justice League. There's been an explosion at Project Cadmus. It's on fire." He said and I watched as the League members in the room moved in front of the screen. "I've had my suspicions about CADMUS. This may present the perfect opportunity to in-" He was suddenly interrupted by Zatara appearing in another screen.

"Zatara to Justice League. The sorcerer Wotan is using the amulet of Attan to block out the sun. Requesting full League response." I blinked in surprise and Batman quickly looked at Superman. "Superman?" Superman appeared the same, "It's a small fire." He said somberly, "Local authorities have it under control." And that was the end of that. "Then Cadmus can wait." Batman looked down and pressed a button on the computer keyboard."Let all League members rendezvous at Zatara's coordinates." All of a sudden, the Leaguers began walking out of the room. "Stay put." Batman said to us, and Robin cut in. "What? Why?" He questioned, throwing out his hands in front of him.

"This is a League mission." Aquaman said, his arms authoritatively set on his hips, and Flash cut in. "You're not trained." And he was immediately questioned by Wally, who looked baffled. "Since when?" He threw his hands in the air exasperatedly, and Flash explained himself. "I mean, you're not trained to work as a part of a team." Flash gestured to all the three of them in emphasis and I narrowed my eyes.

"There will be other missions when you're ready." Aquaman added and I crossed my arms over my chest, leaning against the shelf, growing tired of the talk now. "But, for now." Batman interjected, "Stay put," He narrowed his eyes and tightened his jaw as he scanned all four of us suspiciously before starting to walk away. "Glad you didn't bring you-know-who?" I heard Green Arrow ask to Martian Manhunter, who was calmly overlooking the conversation. The green Martian turned towards him, "Indeed," He agreed before the two walked away together.

Red Tornado stood at the door, watching silently as his fellow Leaguers passed by him and he looked back at us for a moment before he turned away as the door closed behind him with a hiss. Wally scoffed once they were out of hearing, and muttered. "When we're ready?" He echoed the Leaguers' words, "How are we ever supposed to be ready when they treat us like," He threw his arms around him in a frustrated fashion and looked at the rest of us, "Like sidekicks?" Aqualad looked away from the speedster and I watched him as his expression turn dejected.

"My mentor, my king, I thought he trusted me." He mumbled and I felt bad just looking at his dejected face. "Trust? They don't even trust us with the basics! They've got a secret HQ in space!" He raised his arms to gesture at the sky, as his voice raised a few octaves than usual. "What else aren't they telling us?" Aqualad was the one to ask and I sighed, my mind wandering to my own mentor and how much she hadn't been telling me.

Robin looked away, "I have a better question. Why didn't we leave with Speedy?" I glanced at the door where Speedy had went marching towards, until something had occurred to me. "What's Project Cadmus?" I asked rhetorically and the boy wonder in question turned to look at me. "Don't know." And a smile appeared on his pale face, "But I can find out." I grinned also and watched as the traffic light walked towards the computer and started typing, probably hacking the League's system already.

 _"_ _Access denied,"_ The computer echoed and Robin scoffed as he stared at the computer screen, "Heh. Wanna bet?" He continued typing and the whirring from the computer started happening, and the green screen suddenly lit up with the entire database with hidden codes and encryptions that whirred by too fast for me to read. "Whoa." Wally gaped and then he turned to his best friend in question, "How are you doing that?" _He is Batman's protégé, after all._ I thought as I stared at the screen, I was not even surprised anymore at Robin's abilities, I was just bemused.

"Same system as the Batcave." He pressed a button on the keyboard and the glowing screen slowly lit up and the computer's voice penetrated through the walls. "Access granted." I grinned widely and Robin started reading off of the computer screen, which revealed to him the big question on our minds. "All right. Project Cadmus. Genetics lab here in D.C. That's all there is." I raised a eyebrow and I pursed my lips in thought. "But if Batman is suspicious, maybe we should investigate."

"Solve their case before they do." Aqualad summarized, "It would be poetic justice." His face softened and I could see the mischief starting to flick in his pale green eyes, and I started feeling hopeful and excited in all giant bunch. "Hey, they're all about justice." Robin chuckled, smiling at the tan merman. "But, they said stay put." Aqualad frowned and I could tell he was having a internal struggle between disobeying his king and having some fun.

"For the blotting out the sun mission, not this." Robin grinned and placed his hands on his hips, and I guess he could see Aqualad's reluctance. "Wait." Wally grabbed Robin's shoulder so he could turn him around to face him face-to-face. "Are you going to Cadmus? Because if you're going, I'm going." _They really are best friends, aren't they?_ I mused at the identical smirks on both the speedster and the boy wonder.

They turned to both Aqualad and me with wide smiles on their faces, doing their best to persuade the mature and level-headed ones in the group. "Just like that, we're a team on a mission?" Aqualad mused, as Wally looked at Aqualad with his hands on his hips. "We didn't come for a play date." Robin said, and Aqualad's face tightened to a devilish, mischievous expression and the three boys turned to me, the only one who didn't nod my consent. I looked at all three of their happy and mischievous faces and I quirked an eyebrow at all of them, "The hell we waiting for? Let's go!" We then, jumped into action.


	2. Isolation

We arrived at Cadmus and I was already greeted with the sight of a fire flaming the windows and could visibly see two men in lab coats calling for help as the firefighters did their best to hose down the flames and the ambulance were waiting patiently until the firefighters would lower them down to the ground safely.

Suddenly, there was a loud burst and the two men in lab coats fell from the impact, and headed straight towards headfirst to the ground. Before I could blink, Wally raced forward and ran up the wall in his speed, and grabbed the two men on the roof of the building but, apparently, he couldn't hold on to the stability of walking up the building and instead grabbed a hold of the edge of the window. "Ooh, ooh, it's what's-his-name! Flash-boy!" One of the firefighters called out, and Wally yelled back in protest. "Kid Flash!" He yelled back, and mumbled to himself. "Why is that so hard?"

I shook my head at him and focused instead on unsheathing my wings as Aqualad and Robin came running up to where I was. "So smooth," Robin snorted, "Does he always have to run ahead?" I could hear Aqualad ask, and I chuckled as Robin performed his vanishing act once again, and I flapped my wings, pushing off of the ground with my own feet and flew directly to the windows, and as I landed, I helped Wally to his feet.

"Appreciate the help." Aqualad suddenly came jumping in, looking at all of us three. I shrugged one shoulder, feeling suddenly sheepish and feeling kind of bad for leaving him behind. "You handled it," Robin defended from his seat of leaning over to hack in the computers in front of him, the only light in the dark room. "Besides, we're here to investigate. Poetic justice, remember?" Robin called as Aqualad started walking around the room and I sighed in the darkness, spreading my wings even more to stretch them. They always got sore and uncomfortable when I had to sheath them in order to blend in through the crowd.

"There was something in the-" I heard Aqualad mutter as I flew over to him, looking at the elevator just in time to see an odd silhouette before the doors closed on them. "Elevators should be closed," I heard Wally say as he and Robin caught up, and the boy wonder raced past all of us. "This is wrong," He said, looking at his glove, and opening up a holographic computer screen, and pressing a few buttons with it. "Thought so." He concluded, "This is a high-speed express elevator. It doesn't belong to a new-story building."

"Neither does what I saw." Aqualad commented, and then walked to the elevator doors only to pry them apart by his own hands, "And that's why they need an express elevator." Robin quipped, pulling out his grappling hook and shooting it on top of the ceiling only to swing down straight. Aqualad and Wally quickly followed him in suit, and I jumped off from the floor and swooped down with my wings as leverage, I could see Robin slowly running out of pope, and he looked up at me as I hovered over him, my wings spread and flapping to keep my afloat. "I'm at the end of my rope." He commented, and then he swung himself to the edge only to land softly on his feet at the ledge.

Aqualad was right behind him and he landed on the ledge, and then helped Wally jump over the ledge. "Bypassing security." I could see little robin heads as his icon shaking on his holographic computer. "There, go!" Aqualad then pried the doors apart, with a grunt and we walked in to see a maroon-lit space. "Welcome to Project Cadmus." Robin mused as I glanced around the room, and I could hear the familiar zip sound as Wally ran on with his super speed as Aqualad warned him in a hushed voice. "Kid, wait!" I looked to where the yellow-and-red-clad boy was and stopped short when I saw these giant monsters about to stomp on Wally as he slid on the floor, right about to be crushed by one of the giant mutants.

I gaped openly at the sight of the red-eyed mutants walking by us like we were completely invisible. One of them growled under their breath and exhaled, leaving a small fog in front of their mouth, and Aqualad called sarcastically, "No. Nothing odd going on here." We watched until the last of them walked out of sight and out of hearing.

I could hear a distinct whirring and turned around from inspecting the machine next to Wally and heard Robin breathe out. "Okay. I'm officially whelmed." He said out loud and my eyes widened at the sight of what was appearing in front of me. In front of me were millions of cases of the same creatures we had only recently saw but, tinier and infant versions of them. _Oh my god,_ I thought as my eyes followed the same and several rows of these mutant creatures, _they're hatching._

"This is how they hide this massive underground facility from the world." Kid walked and watched the hatching creatures fall into a deep sleep as I swallowed the lump in my throat. "The real Cadmus isn't on the grid. It generates its own power with these things. Must be what they're bred for." Wally turned to Aqualad, who still looked as calm and composed as ever. Heh. I guess you could always count on him on keeping his composure.

"Even the name is a clue. The Cadmus of myth created a new race by sewing dragon's teeth into the earth." I was too busy staring at the creatures hatching to look at Aqualad and his pale calm green eyes. "And this Cadmus creates new life, too." I turned and walked over to where the three of them were standing, Robin at the computer stand. "Let's find out why."

He plugged an outlet into the computer and started typing in the keyboard. "Whoa! Look at the stats of these things – super strength, telepathy, razor claws!" I sucked in a breath as I stared at Robin's holographic computer, _this was horrible,_ how long had this been going on? "These are living weapons!" Robin looked taken aback, and Wally narrowed his eyes. "They're engineering an army. But, for who?" Robin clicked through his computer, "Wait, there's something else." He clicked some buttons on the screen and Aqualad peered in closer.

"Project Kr." He pressed a few more buttons and an error sound occurred, "Ugh! The file's triple-encrypted! I can't-" He was suddenly cut off by a firm voice booming through the room, "Don't move!" I froze and I slowly turned over to see a man in a full-body armor and the same creatures in the cases that were sleeping right beside us. "Wait." The guy seemed to stop, "Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash?" His eyes turned to me and his eyes widened a fraction. "Shaden?" My eyebrows raised in surprise that he actually knew my name, since I wasn't as popular as the three boys.

"At least they got your name right," Robin quipped to Wally, "I know you. Guardian, a hero." Aqualad seemed to recognize him, "I do my best." He replied back, and Wally shot back with his own retorts. "Then, what are you doing here?" He asked, "I'm Chief of Security, you're trespassing, but we can call the Justice League, figure this out." I tensed, I could feel an upcoming fight coming on, "You think the League's gonna approve of you breeding weapons?" Wally practically yelled at him.

"Weapons? What are you-" The creature sitting on his shoulder turned its head towards him and the horns on his head glowed red and I narrowed my eyes. Guardian's eyes turned glassy, distracted and hazy, even, "What have I-" I looked back and forth between Guardian and the creature, "Ugh! My head." Guardian massaged his temple until his eyes suddenly snapped open, and his expression changed into an angered, hard expression.

"Take them down hard! No mercy!" The creatures jumped towards us and Robin stepped in front of us, and threw down a smoke bomb and pulled out his grappling hook and swung himself to the other side. Three of the creatures lunged at me and I swung my arm, five bolts of my silver energy releasing and aiming at the mutants, knocking them on the floor, and then I jumped off of the ground, as another latched itself to my form.

Spinning like Hawkwoman taught me, the creature lost its grip on me and rolled down to the floor. Swinging my entire arm, a powerful wave of my silver energy shot out, blowing away all of the creatures in my path and some of them fell on their backs to the wall with a sickeningly crack. Taking advantage, I flew over through the smoke and out of the fight, and into a near hallway, Kid and Aqualad on my tail.

Wally went headfirst, no surprise there, and both Aqualad and I turned to see the creatures reaching us, and he turned to me. "Go with Kid, I will handle this!" He didn't leave any room for discussion as he threw himself into battle and I flew over in the direction where Wally had sped to.

"Way to be a team player, Rob!" Kid called mockingly, as Robin pressed the buttons on his computer to hack his way so, he could open the door for us. "Weren't you right behind me?" He asked and the door suddenly slid open with a hiss. We ran inside and looked out the hallway to see Aqualad running towards us with the creatures on his tail. He leaped towards us and landed on his feet, and just in time, the doors closed on the aliens.

"We're headed down?" Aqualad questioned. "Dude, out is up." Wally pointed out and I looked at the boy wonder in question. "Excuse me? Project Kr, it's down on sub-level 52." I sighed and leaned back against the wall, feeling completely out of my league. "This is out of control." Aqualad said, his hand on his neck, "Perhaps. Perhaps we should call the League." His words made sense in my mind but, I knew, in my mind, that we had already dug ourselves a hole in too deep, and it was too late to back out now.

There was a ding as we reached sub-level 52 and we all tensed up, in defensive stances as we prepared for what awaited us. Robin ran first, and Wally turned to Aqualad as I floated behind Robin's cape. "We are already here." Kid pointed out as he ran after the both of us, and I could faintly hear Aqualad's sigh.

"Which way?" Aqualad and I both asked at the same time and I looked at him in surprise before looking away. Wally looked at us both, with a weird expression on his face as Aqualad looked the other way. "Yeah." Robin's voice cut in, in the sudden awkwardness. "Bizarre-looking hallway one or bizarre-looking hallway two?" He asked, gesturing to the two halls. Suddenly, we heard a loud voice calling out to us. "Halt!" I snapped my head towards the speaker and I started, he was a blue creature with long horns and red eyes wearing something similar to a hospital patient's outfit.

His horns glowed the same red as the creature on Guardian's shoulder had, and I clenched my fist, and my familiar silver energy crackled as I tensed up, ready for attack. He levitated a bunch of cans and threw it towards us and Robin threw a batarang at him as we gave chase, and while we were running, I stopped and threw three bolts at his feet before I ran again.

"Hurry!" Kid suddenly appeared in my vision as he gestured towards a metal door that was named Project Kr. I ran in, along with Aqualad right behind me and he kicked the can and the door closed behind him. "I disabled the door. We're safe." Robin notified us and Aqualad spoke in. "We're trapped." He said and I glanced over to see what Wally was doing.

"Uh, guys?" He called over and I hovered over to where he was, floating behind his shoulder "You'll want to see this." He pressed a few buttons on the computer and a containment unit lit up and we watched with wide eyes as a sleeping boy stood in the containment, and I sucked in a breath, shocked. _Jesus Christ,_ I was beyond shocked, _what the hell is Cadmus doing?_

"Big 'k', little 'r', the atomic symbol for Krypton. Clone?" Kid Flash turned back to Robin, and the merman commanded the boy wonder, "Robin. Hack." The traffic light looked distracted, turning to Aqualad. "Right, right." Good to see I wasn't the only one tripping out on this discovery.

"Weapon designation Superboy. A clone forced grown – in sixteen weeks? From DNA acquired from Superman." I let out a low whistle, eying the guy in the containment unit. His facial features were enough to impress me and convince me that this was Superman's clone alone. I could only imagine how powerful he was already. "Stolen from Superman." Aqualad added in, "No way the big guy knows about this."

I could only imagine what Superman would think if he saw this. "Solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation twenty-four-seven." I glanced at the boy in the containment unit, observing the white suit he was wearing. "And these creatures?" Aqualad asked, nodding towards the mutants above the boy's head, about the three of them. "Genomorph gnomes, telepathic, force-feeding him an education." I shook my head. I was completely repulsed, how could anyone do this to someone, or at least have the complete gall to do this. "And we can guess what else." Wally interjected, "They're making a slave, out of, well, Superman's son." I was getting goosebumps just thinking about this.

"Now we contact the League." Aqualad stated, as he pressed the symbol on his belt, and I pressed the middle button of my wrist mallet that I kept on my wrist. "No signal," Robin said, stating what was on everyone's mind. "We're in too deep. Literally." I nodded, agreeing with Wally whole heartedly.

"This is wrong." I sat down, rubbing my free hand onto my own face and sighing. "This is horrible," I added, shaking my head as I glanced at the sleeping boy in question in the chamber. "We can't leave him like this." Robin agreed and Aqualad set his hand under his chin as he thought hard and long. "Set him free," He said, turning to Robin. "Do it." He commanded. I watched as the chamber hissed open and I stood up slowly, waiting for a sign of life.

His hand reached out to grasp thin air and cracked his knuckles, and I could see Aqualad narrowing his eyes. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and I could see the blue color in his irises. Suddenly, leaping forward, and with a speed rivaling Wally's, he tackled Aqualad to the floor before I could blink. Eyes widening, I flew over to them, and grabbed the clone's arms to get him off of Aqualad. "Whoa!" Kid Flash came over to help me, as he got over his initial shock. "Hang on Supey!"

"We're on your side!" Robin grunted as Wally was suddenly punched in his face and fell through a glass case, knocking him unconscious. "I don't want to do this!" Robin threw a smoke bomb at him as I went to go see if Wally was alright and breathing. Suddenly, I could hear a clatter and the Superman-clone was brought onto his back. I could hear a whirring and saw Robin being dragged and stomped on by Superboy-clone.

Grabbing my mallet, I ran over to where Robin was being attacked, and swung hard at Superboy, and hitting him under the jaw to make him lose his balance. Suddenly, he grabbed me by my front shirt and threw me over his shoulder carelessly, throwing me into the chamber he was imprisoned in.

That hurt. I winced and as I blinked through blurry eyes, I could see Aqualad swinging at him with a constructed water-hammer. "Enough!" He lost his temper at Superboy. "We are trying to help you!" Aqualad stood in a defensive stance as Superboy launched himself at him with a punch and Aqualad shouted as he pinned the clone against the wall.

The world seemed to come into two, or maybe it was because I was hit a little too hard. Fatigue suddenly entered my system, and I fought my hardest to stay awake, but the weariness of sleep took over as I fell unconscious, defeated by a clone from Superboy.

I could hear Wally gasp from beside me. I looked at the other two; we were all cuffed from our arms to our legs. The clone, however, was staring right at us. And rather creepily, I might add. "What?" Wally started murmuring, "What do you want?" The clone only narrowed his eyes slightly. "Quit staring, you're creeping me out!" He wasn't the only one. "Uh, KF, how about we not tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?" I looked back at the clone and then I was suddenly reminded how Superman could shoot lasers out of his eyes.

"We only sought to help you." Aqualad started talking, "Yeah, we free you, and you turn on us. How's that for grat-" I gave Wally a look that was clear he needed to shut his mouth before we were all dead. "Kid, please." Aqualad interrupted, "Be quiet now. I believe our new friend is not in complete control of his actions."

"What if I –" He started talking but, cleared his throat instead. "What if I wasn't?" I blinked, so he can talk for real then. "He can talk?" Kid questioned, and Superboy clenched his fist, looking at Wally with an intimidating glare. "Yes, he can." He said and I watched with a side eye as Robin worked on letting himself free. Wally looked at the three of us, I was scowling, Robin looked at him, and Aqualad was looking at him calmly. "Not like I said 'it'." I sighed.

I tuned out the conversation and I looked down to tug at the bonds, I caught the words in their conversation, as I summoned my telekinesis to unlock the metal bonds and I could hear a resounding click and I smiled. "Pretty sure it's after midnight but, we can show you the moon." I rolled my eyes at Wally's words, and then I worked on loosening the binds around my feet.

"Activate the cloning process." A guy in a lab coat came in, along with Guardian, with a few of the G-gnomes. "Pass. Batcave's crowded enough." I almost laughed at Robin's comment. I caught a few of their words conversing back and forth to each other, and I narrowed my eyes when I saw one of the G-gnomes jump on Superboy's shoulder and the horns suddenly started glowing red and his eyes turned a familiar glassy and foggy blue.

Suddenly, there were two electronics appearing in front of me and touching my torso and released waves of shock, and the pain caused me to groan and scream at the shock. It reminded me of the pain when I had to change when I had my wings. It was painful and I wanted it to stop already. After what felt like an eternity, the shocking stopped and I could see Superboy had come back, breaking the door down with his hands and carrying it.

Superboy simply pushed his way out, and simply glared down at the scientists. "Don't give me orders." He stopped walking and stood in front of us, "You here to help us or fry us?" I wanted to smack Wally upside the head, because I knew his mouth would get us in trouble one day. Superboy simply stared at him, narrowing his eyes. "Huh. I don't seem to have heat vision so I suppose helping is my only option." _Oh, he has a sense of humor, does he?_

"Ugh! Finally, lucky Batman isn't here. He'd have my head for taking so long." I raised a brow at him. "Seriously, that's what you're worried about? The whole League will have our heads after tonight." Smack Wally, I noted, as the chambers hissed open and I jumped down on the ground safely, rubbing my wrists.

After we were all free, we ran out of the scene, and I froze when I saw the monsters we saw at the beginning of this mission. Superboy charged first and I flew over their heads, deflecting rather than attacking. "Superboy!" Aqualad called, "The goal is to escape, not to bury ourselves here!" He said.

As Aqualad pried open the door, we looked up to see the elevator, and Wally latched himself to another random ledge. Robin pushed himself up with his grappling hook and Superboy took Aqualad by the arm and they flew together up, as I flew by behind them and my eyes widened when I realized Superboy was not flying but falling and I quickly formed a small circle of a barrier that slid to a random level. "This will have to do." I said as they all landed and I flew in after them, and we all gave chase.

Superboy had begun shouting out directions and we followed him, which had led us to a dead end. Although, Wally complained at his misdirections, Robin claimed that this was the perfect way. Turns out, we had to crawl through the vents, and once Robin realized that he didn't hack through the motion sensors yet, he did, and Kid Flash managed to knock down most of the G-gnomes down as he sped his way on his own.

Once we were out, there was a brief lockdown, with the red lights blaring and the whole shebang, turns out we were cornered, and tried out best to turn into a small corner through another room, but still were cornered. We were prepared to attack but, all of a sudden, the horns of all of the g-gnomes glowed red, and before I knew it, my body fell in a resounding thud as I lost consciousness.

We weren't that knocked out because we woke up a few minutes later. "Guardian?" Aqualad asked and I rubbed my head, all too familiar of the feeling of having my mind invaded. "Go," He commanded, "I'll deal with Desmond." He said, and I turned around when I heard the sound of another voice calling. There was Desmond who swallowed a blue vial substance which made him turn into a huge monstrous creature.

Apparently, Blockbuster was a hell of a fighter considering he knocked out Guardian with a solid punch and knocked Superboy, tackling him to the roof, which destroyed a good circle in the ceiling. "Okay," Robin said. "That's one way to bust through the ceiling." Robin commented as he and Kid Flash flew with the help of a grappling hook as I flew up to the hole, helping Aqualad to his feet as we looked down at the nasty powerhouse fight.

Aqualad and Superboy were immediately tackled and I looked at Blockbuster, who was growling and I narrowed my eyes as all of us rushed at the bulking creature all at once. After Robin had his turn, I laid my hand on the ground and whispered a spell to absorb the stony material before I launched myself at Blockbuster, hitting a solid uppercut at his chin and he fell back, thanks to Wally tripping him from behind.

As I grabbed the mallet from my wrist, I noticed Blockbuster busting Aqualad and hitting through at least two solid pillars of concrete, and some of the concrete from the ceiling rained down on them. "Of course, KF, Shaden! Get over here!" I heard Robin call. He showed the both of us the structural on his holographic computer. "Got it?" He asked us and I nodded, and Kid Flash rushed past as I punched through the top of the pillar, punching through the concrete to set Robin's plan in action. I hurried my actions when I noticed Wally distracting Blockbuster and struggling to stand up, and I used my mallet to swing at the very last pillar, hitting it repeatedly until all I could see was a gaping hole in the pillar.

As Aqualad spread the water where Robin's target was, and electrocuted Blockbuster. "Move!" Robin shouted as his birdarangs suddenly began exploding and we all rushed and dove for cover as the building collapsed around us. I brought up a barrier around all of us in my familiar silver energy, hopefully it would stay up like I would hope so.

"We…did it." Aqualad panted as I exhaled loudly, bringing down my barrier which had drained most of my energy than I thought it would. "Was there…any other doubt?" Robin asked, panting as he and Wally smiled at each other before they high-fived and regretting it as soon as they slapped each other's hand, grunting at the pain. _Probably broke their ribs,_ I thought, as I looked at my own wings. They were good, but maybe, a little ruffled and featherless.

"See?" Superboy looked at Wally, and I looked up to see what he was pointing at. "The moon," I laughed and watched as a figure started to descend from the moon, only to reveal it was Superman. "And Superman, do we keep our promises or what?" I smacked Wally on the head and he looked at me, confused and I shook my head at the speedster before laughing.

As I watched Superman descend, I noticed other Leaguers coming and floating and appearing by also. My heart suddenly dropped. _Hawkwoman._ I was screwed. I turned and saw Hawkwoman descend from the sky, quietly, as her wings tucked in together and looked away when she leveled me with a intimidating glare.

As Superman stared at us, Superboy walked up to him, bravely leveling the same stare as he lifted his tattered shirt to reveal the Superman insignia on the front. "Is that what I think it is?" Batman questioned and I bit my lip as I watched the whole ordeal go on out. "He doesn't like to be called an 'it'." Wally whispered and I smacked him again over the head and he looked at me, "What?" I shook my head. Batman only narrowed his eyes. "I'm Superman's clone." Superboy bravely said. I sucked in a breath and Batman looked as stoic as ever. "Start talking," He commanded.

I could see Superboy staring after Superman and felt oddly bad for him, because Superman hadn't exactly said anything in the matter. I'm guessing he felt uncomfortable and awkward that he had a clone of him. Reculantly, he came over to where Supey was standing and sighed, "We'll figure something out for you. I mean the League will. For now, I better make sure they get that Blockbuster creature squared away." He flew off.

"Cadmus will be investigated." We turned around to see Batman, Flash, Aquaman, and Hawkwoman – I cringed. "All 52 levels. But let's make one thing clear –" He was interrupted by Flash, who crossed his arms across his chest. "You should've called." Batman looked put off that he was interrupted, side-looking at the speedster. "End results aside, we are not happy." I paused when I saw Hawkwoman settle her hands on her hips and I gulped. "You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again." I pursed my lips.

"I am sorry but, we will." Aqualad cut in. "Aqualad, stand down." Aquaman looked at his protégé, and I glanced between the two Atlanteans. "Apologies, my king but, no." Aquaman's eyebrow raised in surprise. "We did good work here tonight, the work you trained us to do. Together, on our own, we forged something powerful, important."

"Is this about the treatment at the Hall? The four of you –" I watched the mentors' faces, and they were expressionless as a wall. "The five of us, and it's not." Wally interjected. "Batman, we're ready to use what you taught us, or why teach us at all?" Hawkwoman caught my eye and she raised a brow at me, "And Shaden? You agree with this?" She was testing me, daring me to say something that would defy her and I nodded.

"Yes. I disobeyed your orders but, if it were not for the five of us, you wouldn't have known about Cadmus, or the fact that it has an express elevator." I held my chin up, blue eyes meeting green as Hawkwoman glared at me, daring me to say more, and dig my hole even deeper. "We did good, just like you taught all of us, and we deserve to have as much recognition and respect as the Justice League receives from anyone else." Hawkwoman widened her eyes at my words, and slowly, she made a approving sound at the back of her throat and relaxed her tense posture.

Wally whistled a low whistle beside me. "Why let them tell us what to do?" Superboy interjected. "It's simple. Get on board or get out of the way." We faced our mentors and Batman only responded by narrowing his eyes under his cowl.

"This cave was the original sanctuary for the Justice League. We're calling it into service again, since you five are determined to stay together to fight the good fight." Batman turned to us. "You'll do it on League terms." He said. "Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary's in charge of training. And I will deploy you on missions." I breathed, _was this really happening?_

"Real missions?" Robin asked, "Yes but, covert." Batman replied and I tried my best to hide a smile behind my hand. "The League will still handle the obvious stuff, there's a reason why we have these big targets on our chests." Flash grinned at his protégé. "But Cadmus proves that the bad guys are getting smarter. Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly." Aquaman looked at Batman, who only stared back.

"The six of you will be that team." I blinked in surprise. "Cool," Robin laughed, and paused. "Wait. Six?" Batman nudged behind us and we all turned around. "This is the Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian." In the shadows revealed Martian Manhunter behind a green-skinned girl with red hair, wearing an outfit similar to her uncle. "Hi," She greeted friendly. "Liking this gig more any minute." I rolled my eyes, laughing behind my hand.

"Welcome aboard." Wally walked forward, "I'm Kid Flash, that's Robin, there's Shaden." I waved at her, "And that's Aqualad. Cool if you forget their names." I snorted at his introduction. "Well, I'm honored to be included." She seemed like a really nice girl, it just sucks that Wally was flirting with her. We walked towards her to talk to her even more, and Robin turned to Superboy, who still stayed back. He was distant, very distant. "Hey Superboy," He waved at him, "Come meet Miss M." He said as he came over to our little group.

Suddenly, Miss Martian's outfit changed into a darker tone of her outfit, "I like your t-shirt." She said to Superboy, and I smiled. _Good luck, Wally._ Superboy started to smile and was nudged in the arm by Robin and Wally sped next to him, throwing his arm around him. I looked at Aqualad, who looked at us with a smile. "Today is the day." I smiled widely.

I could hear Robin's cackle as he swung on his grappling hook and I threw down an energy bolt at Bane's head, snickering as it hit him and he fell back on his ass. "The cave is perfect, it has everything the Team will need." My eyes glowed a silver light and I swiped my arm, levitating a headlight lamp and wrapping it with my telekinesis, "For covert missions, you know, spy stuff!" Robin said, appearing beside Aqualad as I hovered behind him. "Wait until you see Miss Martian and Superboy!" Wally appeared beside us, his hands on his hips as he waggled his finger in front of us. "But, I saw her first!" I snorted at his words.

Suddenly, Bane threw another huge boulder at us and using the mallet, I swung and the boulder exploded in a series of tiny little rocks. As Roy shot back his arrow, and the foam surrounded Bane, Wally zipped in front of him. "High-density polyurethane foam, nice." I watched as Roy turned on his heel and walked away without saying a word.

"So, Speedy, you in?" Robin asked, "Pass." He answered. "I'm done letting Arrow and the League telling me what to do. I don't need a babysitter or a clubhouse to hang out with the other kids. Your junior Justice League is a joke, something to keep you busy and keep you in your place." He started walking into the shadows. "I don't want any part in it." I shared a look with Wally, who looked concerned as he glanced at Aqualad and Robin.

"Did you ask him?" Robin came running up towards us, with Wally in tow. "What did he say?" I grinned at their enthusiasm, as Aqualad answered him. "He's arriving now." He simply said. "Then, what are we waiting for?" Wally asked as he and Robin ran headfirst with Aqualad and I in tow, with Superboy and Miss Martian following us.

"Red Tornado!" Wally greeted, waving as the robot came whirring by and landed on the ground. "Greetings. Is there a reason you intercept me outside the Cave?" He looked at all of us, I guess, he was looking, or however he worked. "We hoped you had a mission for us." Aqualad explained as we stepped closer to the red robot in question. "Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility." I sighed at the mention of the caped crusader. He was as intimidating and scary and frightening as the rumors had said. "But, it's been over a week and nothing-" Robin started, "You'll be tested soon enough. For the time being, simply enjoy each other's company." I quirked an eyebrow in question.

"This team is not a social club." I tilted my head to see what Red Tornado was trying to convey to us. "No but, I am told social interaction is an important team-building exercise. Perhaps you can keep busy by familiarizing yourself with the Cave." His words were true, and I heard something familiar like that from Hawkwoman's many and several lectures as he walked past us over to the Cave.

"Keep busy," Wally punched Robin's shoulder. "Does he think we're falling for this?" Robin asked and Miss Martian gasped beside me, "Oh, I'll find out." She turned and narrowed her eyes as she stared at Red Tornado's disappearing silhouette. She sighed in defeat after a moment. "I'm sorry, I forgot, he's a machine, inorganic. I cannot read his mind." I smiled despite her disappointment and patted her arm comfortingly.

"Nice try, though." Wally piped up. "So, uh." He leaned towards the Martian and I narrowed my eyes. "You know what I'm thinking right now?" I rolled my eyes at the speedster, he had been flirting with her since day one when she joined the team. "We all know what you're thinking." Robin nudged him in the back and he received an 'ow' in return. "And now, we tour the clubhouse." Aqualad said after a moment.

"Well, Superboy and I live here. We can play tour guides." She offered and we all looked at Superboy. "Don't look at me." He huffed and I looked at Miss Martian again. "We won't." Wally said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "A private tour sounds much more fun." I smacked Wally on the head with my free hand and I received a snicker from Robin. Like Robin, I received an 'ow'.

"She never said private," Robin reminded, "Team building. We'll all go." Aqualad spoke up and as we were walking, Robin pushed Wally back and he grunted at the action. "So, this would be the front door." The Martian gestured to the air, "And this would be the back. The cave is actually the entire mountain." Miss M started. "It was hollowed out and reinforced by Superman and Green Lantern in the early days of the League." Wally surmised as we looked on about the room.

"Then why abandon it for the Hall of Justice?" Superboy questioned. We were all wearing civilian clothing. I looked down at my outfit, I had chosen to wear black skinny jeans, sneakers, and a black t-shirt with a blue sweatshirt. "The Cave's secret location was…compromised." Aqualad answered. "So, they traded it in for a tourist trap? Yea, that makes sense." He scoffed and I glanced at the kitchen, tilting my head, I could smell something burning.

"If villains know of the cave, we must be on constant alert." Miss M surmised and Robin, being the sly person he is, took her hand and patted it with his own pale hands. "The bad guys know we know they know about the place, so they've never think to look here." I raised my eyebrows. _What?_ "Uh, we means we're hiding in plain sight." Wally translated, and Miss M made a sound of approval as Robin glared at his best friend. "That's much clearer." She said, scratching her head.

"I smell smoke." I mumbled and Miss M gasped in realization, "My cookies!" She flew in the air and raced down the hallway, to arrive to the kitchen to take out the cookies as we followed her. I looked down at the cookies – burnt, dark, and probably hard and unchewable. I cringed at the smell.

"I was trying out Grammy Jones recipe from episode seventeen of-never mind." Miss M laughed nervously. "I've bet they would have tasted great. He doesn't seem to mind." Robin nudged towards Wally, who have already been scarfing them down like he's never eaten before. "I have a serious metabolism?" I scoffed at him and swiped one of the cookies, taking a small bite slowly. "It's good, just some bad timing," I offered. "I could help you make a new batch if you want." I smiled at her. Miss M nodded in agreement. "I'll make more?" She asked.

"It was sweet of you to make any." Aqualad piped up. "Thanks, Aqualad." She said, and he replied with. "We're off duty. Call me Kaldur'ahm. Actually, my friends call me Kaldur." My eyebrows raised in surprise. _Kaldur._ It fit him in a way. "I'm Wally. See, I already trust you with my secret ID." I hid a smile behind my free hand. "Unlike Mr. Dark Glasses over here, Batman's forbidden anyone from telling anyone his real name." I chewed a bit more of the cookie. It was good, kinda.

"Mine's no secret. It's M'gann M'orzz. But, you can call me Megan, it's an Earth name, and we're on Earth." I smirked and her eyes turned to me. "What about you, Shaden?" My eyes lifted to greet her red ones and I offered a small smile. "Leila. But, my friends call me Lei." Aqualad turned to me. "That is a very beautiful name, it means _born at night,_ does it not?" He asked and I nodded, trying to hide my surprise. "Well, it definitely suits you," Robin added with a laugh, gesturing towards my ebony-as-night hair.

All of a sudden, Superboy turned to Megan and yelled at her. "Get out of my head!" I jumped at the sound of his loud voice and I was glad that Wally didn't seem to notice as usual, since he would always tease me. Everybody looked at Megan and she stayed silent but, in our minds, her voice echoed. _What's wrong, I don't understand. Everyone on Mars communicates telepathically._ I stared at Megan as Aqualad, Wally, and Robin clutched their heads at the telepathic intrusion. "M'gann, stop." Aqualad ordered and M'gann stared at him in surprise.

"Things are different on Earth. Here, your powers are an extreme invasion of privacy." I stayed silent, and watched the two converse as M'gann's expression turned guilty. "Besides, Cadmus' creepy little g-gnomes left a bad taste in his brain." Wally side-whispered to the green Martian. I-I didn't mean to-" M'gann started but was interrupted by Superboy who was glaring at her, still furious at her intrusion. "Just stay out." He enunciated, angrily as he stomped out of the kitchen.

I laid a hand on her forearm, acting as some form of comfort to her. _Not everyone is used to telepathy, give him time._ I said as M'gann glanced at me in surprise, and I shrugged at her. I wasn't too big of a fan of telepathy but, I used it when it was necessary, since I disliked having my privacy invaded. M'gann looked down for a moment before she looked up and smacked her forehead with her free hand. "Hello Megan! I know what we can do." She flew past us and Robin shrugged his shoulders before we all followed her lead.

We were loaded onto the elevator, and I was curious as to what M'gann was going to show us. "It's my martian bioship." M'gann explained and I quirked a brow as we all walked out of the doors and saw a red giant egg. "Cute." Wally remarked, "Not aerodynamic but, cute." He nodded in agreement at his own words and I tilted my head to the side.

"It's at rest, silly." M'gann smiled as she waved her arm around, "I'll wake it." Suddenly, the egg expanded into a large airplane-looking object and my jaw dropped open in shock. M'gann began walking towards it until she noticed us just standing there, gaping at the contraption, "Well? Are you coming?" We caught up with her.

Inside, it was definitely roomy and objects began popping out of no where, as Robin and Wally took their seats, "Whoa." Robin nodded as he jumped into his seat and the straps settled him in. "Strap in for launch." M'gann commented as Wally settled himself in his own seat. "Cool," He remarked. "Red Tornado, please open the bay doors." I slowly took my own seat, in between Aqualad and Superboy, who was still insignificantly pissed off.

"Incredible." Robin looked at M'gann who was driving the bioship with these two glowing orbs she rested her hands on. Wally sighed, imitating a love-sick high school boy. "She sure is." I snorted when I saw him fuss up with his words as the telepathic Martian looked at him in question. "I-I mean the ship. Which, like all ships, is a she." _Smooth one, Wall-man._ I thought sarcastically as Robin snickered at his spot near the window. "Fast with his feet, not so much with his mouth." He quipped and I laughed before I could control it, and fist-bumped Robin, who joined in my laughter, avoiding Wally's glare on both of us.

"Dude!" The speedster said and M'gann simply smiled at the red-haired teenager, and I turned back only to hear snippets of the conversation going on between Aqualad and Superboy. "Just say sorry." Kaldur was saying and I busied myself with touching the spikes on my mallet that lied on my wrist. If they really wanted to have a private conversation, they would at least have the decency to whisper or something. I shook my head; boys.

"He'll come around." I could hear Robin comfort M'gann somewhat as I sunk low in my seat, pulling out my phone and starting to play Candy Crush. I was getting bored of this talk, and focused instead on cracking the candy in my little game instead. "Hey, how about showing us some Martian shapeshifting?" Robin mused and I turned my head at the question, a little intrigued at the idea. I could see M'gann slowly morphing into a feminine version of Robin, and turning around only to shapeshift into a girl version of Wally. "Is it wrong if I think I'm hot?" I formed a hand made out of my silver energy and let the energy-hand smack Wally over the head. I ignored his yell of pain as Robin clapped his hands together.

"Impressive but you know you're not gonna fool anyone with those." Pretty sure Robin was talking about the set of boobs she had on her when she shapeshifted. I passed the level on Candy Crush and went on to the next one, this time, the goal was to melt the ice within a maximum amount of moves on my level. I hated this kind of game. I had a love-hate relationship with Candy Crush. I was in love with it but I also hated it, especially when I couldn't pass through the level after a minimum amount of times.

I snapped my head up when I suddenly heard Red Tornado's voice echo throughout the Bioship. He said something about a investigation at Happy Harbor and all I could see through the window was a large mass of a tornado forming in front of us. _Well, this ought to be fun,_ I sighed as I braced for impact as we sucked into the same tornado.

Before I knew it, we were dropped onto the floor, crawling out of the space, and heard Aqualad shout. "Robin, are tornadoes common in New England?" Aqualad shouted over the sound of the tornado sounds but all he received was a distinct familiar cackle echoing throughout the thin space. "He was just here." M'gann commented.

By the time we got to the disturbance, I saw Robin on his behind, grunting a he was blown back from the gust. "Who's your new friend?" Superboy questioned as he ran full-speed at the intruder. By the time we had all attacked at the strange Red Tornado twin, M'gann and Aqualad had already been knocked down on their feet.

I unsheathed my wings and flew full-speed at him, pulling out my mallet and raising my arms as I prepared to swing at him. But, I was stopped by a powerful gust of wind that blew me back on my ass and into the wall. After getting up once again, we were defeated by the same gusts of wind, and the intruder finally made his own way out, with us falling over ourselves again.

By the time we were defeated for a second time, Superboy pointed fingers at M'gann, who seemed saddened at his conclusion, with Wally and Robin exchanging words consisting of M'gann being pretty inexperienced. As I watched, I couldn't help feeling like I wanted to smack the two of them, and I was even more surprised when Kaldur had not defended her as the four boys left in our wake, and I crouched down to grasp M'gann by the shoulder.

"C'mon." I said quietly, "Let's go back to the Cave," I nodded, pulling her up to her feet. "You're not going with them?" She cast a sad look in the direction the boys have gone, and I shook my head. "Not today." I commented and climbed up the stairway to the Bioship, M'gann in front of me. I took one more casting look in the direction the boys went, and I shook my head, as I entered the Bioship.

We ended up contacting Red Tornado, who agrued back that it was a test for all of us, but concluded that it was a weird identical coincidence that this Mister Twister shared his abilities and his immunity of telepathy. Both M'gann and I looked at each other in surprise before I smacked myself in the forehead with my free hand and M'gann shook her head, "Hello M'gann!"

Megan ended up conversing with the rest of the Team and I almost scowled at Superboy's asshole response. Megan and I had a plan but, the three stubborn boys had to learn how to trust us.


End file.
